Stable vs Release vs Current

[Dave Tweten]

dbm at 5fm.za.com said:
>Have been using FreeBSD for about a year now but haven't understood or
>found a definitive answer to the versions/branches.

CURRENT --> the CVS tree to which developers submit their unit-tested code.
        Currently, this tree produces releases numbered 5.x.  This has the
        latest stuff, and is flakier than the alternative, ...

STABLE  --> the CVS tree to which code is submitted (MFC'ed) when it has
        proven itself for some time under CURRENT.  Currently, this tree
        produces releases numbered 4.x.

Release --> a term that is applied to verious (numbered) versions from
        each CVS tree.  The current 4.9-Release is a snapshot of the STABLE
        tree's continuous progression just before the most recent 
pre-release
        code freeze thawed.

Release Candidate --> Characterizes versions of CURRENT or STABLE during
        a pre-release code freeze that are being considered to be declared
        the Release.

tag=RELENG_5 --> This is how to get cvsup to give you the absolutely 
latest,
        up-to-the-minute, flakiest CURRENT.

tag=RELENG_4 --> This is how to get cvsup to give you the absolutely 
latest,
        up-to-the-minute, (probably not too flaky unless we're in a code
        freeze) STABLE.  Unless we're in a code freeze, it will call itself
        4.x-STABLE.  In a code freeze, it might call itself 4.(x+1)-RC, 
"RC"
        for Release Candidate.

tag=RELENG_4_9 --> This is how to get cvsup to give you the 4.9 Release 
code
        with only a few, very important bug fixes added.  Those fixes are
        likely to address only security problems or catastrophic bugs in 
the
        release.

>I installed 1st FreeBSD system from 4.4 (the only cds I could get my hands
>on). By the time I started understanding what I was doing, 4.8 was out. So
>I CVSup'd the source and did the whole make buildworld/installworld kernel
>thing. And I was running 4.8... Question here is, was I running 4.4
>release?

You don't say what tag you were using, but assuming your tag was 
"RELENG_4," you were running 4.8-STABLE.  After you cvsupped 4.8-Stable 
and installed, 4.4-Release was overwritten.

>Then in December 2003 (about a month after 4.9 was announced), I
>downloaded ISOs for 4.9 and reinstalled from scratch. Same questions as
>before, am I running 4.9 stable? release?

4.9-Release.

>When did release become stable?

It didn't.  STABLE became Release just long enough to make the ISOs, and 
then went back to being STABLE.

>Am now running 4.9 and started cvsupping the source. my supfile has this
>line in it: default release=cvs tag=RELENG_4_9. Am I wasting my time?
>Should it rather read RELENG_4?

That would depend upon what you want.  If you are very conservative and 
only want updates beyond 4.9 Release that fix security vulnerabilities or 
catastrophic problems, you have just the right tag.  If you also want well 
tested new features and fixes to less than catastrophic bugs, then you 
might want to get RELENG_4 instead.  But don't forget to hold off updates 
from the pre-release code freeze until the release CDs arrive in the mail.

>And where do security patches fit into this story?  

They fit into tag=RELENG_x_y, tag-RELENG_4_9, in your case.
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